The breed is believed to have originated more than 2,000 years ago in the countries now known as Greece and Turkey.

By the Middle Ages, the breed had become distributed throughout Southern Europe and was later a favorite of the Italians of the sixteenth century, among whom miniature dogs were in great demand.

The grace of the breed has prompted several artists to include the dogs in paintings, among others Velázquez, Pisanello, and Giotto.

The breed has been popular with royalty. Among the royal aficionados are Mary, Queen of Scots, Queen Anne, Queen Victoria, Catherine the Great, Frederick the Great and Maud, Queen of Norway.

Whippets were bred to hunt by sight, coursing game in open areas at high speeds. There are numerous representations of small greyhound-like hounds in art dating back to Ancient Egyptian times. In medieval England, a small Greyhound breed became popular for use as a ratting dog, the first written English use of the word Whippet with regard to a type of dog was in 1610. Whippets were commonly known as “snap dogs” for their tendency to “snap up” nearby prey.

In the picture by Jean-Baptiste Oudry (1686–1755) of two dogs presented to Louis XV, they are either Whippets or small Greyhounds, but are probably related to an early form of Whippet. Oudry also painted a second painting of Misse with a different, non-sighthound dog. There is a 1758 painting by Pompeo Batoni entitled Portrait of Charles Compton, 7th Earl of Northampton which features a similar whippet-like dog.

In the 19th century, Whippet racing was a popular sport in parts of England. The Whippet was held in high regard in the northern parts of England and Wales, but was generally disregarded in the rest of the country. At the time, there were two varieties of Whippet. The first type had a smooth coat, was more popular in Lancashire, Yorkshire, and the Midlands, and became the modern Whippet. The other had a rough coat from crossbreeding with Bedlington Terriers. This type was more popular in Durham and Northumberland and was frequently referred to as a “rabbit dog”.

Early specimens were taken from the race track by the dog fanciers of the time and exported around the world. John Taylor said that “In all the shapes and forms of dogges; of all which there are but two sorts that are useful to man’s profits, which two are the mastiffe and the little curre, whippet, or house-dogge; all the rest are for pleasure and recreation.”

The age of the modern Whippet dawned in 1891 when The Kennel Club granted the breed official recognition, thus making the Whippet eligible for competition in dog shows, and commencing the recording of their pedigrees. In the United States, the Whippet was recognised in 1888 by the American Kennel Club. Whippets arrived in the United States with mill operators from England, and the first populations were established in Massachusetts. The Whippet is the 55th most popular breed according to the American Kennel Club.